Here's the thing, Louis Tomlinson
by LikeVunderland
Summary: One Direction. Harry, Zayne, Liam, Niall, and Louis had their lives changed by a singing competition. That much, the world knew. Pemberly Brookes became part of that whirlwind. Here's the thing... (Starts off mild but this will escalate as the story progresses to mature). This is a Louis Tomlinson story.
1. Prologue

**If you recognize me from Quizilla, HI!**

**If not, nice to meet you.**

**If you're a woodland creature, ****welcome!**

**This is just a teaser prologue.**

**Comment, vote, I'll update anyway but once in a while, I include people in my stories and it's cool to hear your thoughts.**

**Bon apetite!**

I knew it was a dream the way I knew it was him without seeing his face. That brown, scraggly hair. That pose of self-assuredness.

"Let go!" he looked over his shoulders. For the first time, his full face was in view and that was enough to spike a feeling of falling in my stomach.

We were roaring at breakneck speeds, flying high into the air. A group of boys and the rest of the touring team was surrounding us. From below, we might have appeared to be a huge dark cloud.

From up here, meters from his falling frame, I felt like a God.

His glimmer fingertip pointed out to the small bull's eye – a stage marked in red.

"Jump!" he yelled again and in a flash, his body plummeted straight toward that stage.

I knew he had landed. Without having to look, I knew he was there. And I, aiming only for him, let my body grow heavy.

And I fell so fast it was a wonder I didn't feel it in my actual body.


	2. Chapter 1

**So I noticed in my views that I reached China!**

**Vote, comment. Special shout out if you can name the TV show the campfire story I mention is from.**

**Hint: It's a spin off. **

**Bon Appetite.**

I woke groggily, pieces together the pieces of the dream.

I remembered an old campfire story my second grade classmates had recounted on a wilderness trip.

A man living an ordinary life woke cheerfully, kissed his wife before work, came home for dinner, and then retired to the basement. But in the basement, the horrors started. As punishment, he laid on a slab as a demon stood over him and sliced out his heart. The man, awake during the process, howled in agony. Then, the next day he would wake in his bed and go through it all over again from cheerful smile to the eventual basement epilogue. The agony never ended.

I rubbed the mental imagery from my eyes and woke up in the Hong Kong suite.

_Day 14 of tour? No, definitely 13._

And I leaned back into bed, wondering how they would tell my story.

"There once was a beautiful bright girl.."

There would be s'mores, a glowing fire, hands tucked for warmth into pockets.

"Who majored in filmography…"

Spooky, now you're all in. This girl went to university. This had to be good.

"….And went on tour with One Direction…"

Squeals from the older camp counselors who would have grown up during the One Direction hay day.

"Every night…some mornings…and occasionally midway through the day – HER HEART WOULD IMPLODE INSIDE HER CHEST."

And it would be true. Not _literally_. But definitely in the artistic sense.

Since the start of my tour documentary on the band, a few things had changed. My crew – Kyle, Uma, and Darcy – were loving the fast life more than the actual film process. Niall Horne was possibly the most down to earth guy of all time. I was definitely going to solidify to my parents that I was better suited for filmography than law school.

And the clincher, that story concerning the bloke with the gutted heart problem was becoming increasing relatable.

I squeezed my eyes shut and remembered why I hadn't shot out of bed to prepare my camera equipment. The band had the day off. And, again, I recalled why 14 seemed especially familiar today. It was February 14.

_Valentine's Day._


	3. Chapter 2

**Throwback to my teenage love of Elton John.**

**He is love.**

**Will update when I get 2 reviews, 3 faves.**

Last night there was a party after the show. And a party after that. I didn't even bother looking at my phone because I was too jet-legged for time to be relevant.

The sun was high so that told me it was afternoon. With the city laid out below me in pure sunshine, I felt a distinctive feeling of familiarity. Then I spotted a curving little marble hotel in the distance and I remembered it from one of my dad's post cards. His company was a global enterprise. I shut the large opulent curtains over the floor to ceiling window and padded out of my bed room. The rest of the suite was quite. Kyle's pants where on the floor of the living room couch. The rest of the room looked like the PG-13 version of "The Hangover."

I clutched my head and waded through a smile heap of what looked like New Year's eve celebrations. China knew how to party, that was for sure.

With my laptop in hand, I set out to catalogue the most recent tour footage. Most of the day skimmed past, until a flurry of knocks at the door sent me upright.

"Hello, good day. Massages?" Two slender blonde woman were standing outside with a few large carts that I'm sure housed collapsible massage tables and all the oils.

I rolled my eyes and went to collected Kyle. He, Darcy, and Uma were in their respective beds in the other large room that housed three Queen sized beds.

"What? What? I'm up," he rolled to the side.

"Honestly, Kyle," I said. "There are two spas in this hotel. You had to bring them to the room?"

"Don' worry, I put it on my black card," he mumbled into his pillow. "Are they hot?"

"They are lovely."

"Good, I couldn't bring a girl home last night," he pointed a weak arm in the general direction of where Uma and Darcy were slowly rousing from sleep. "So I could use a hot sight."

Uma climbed into Darcy's bed and placed a quick kiss on her forehead.

"Kyle, you're the only guy _on Planet Earth _that would actually complain about sharing a Hong Kong suite with two lesbians."

Darcy agreed, "Rich kid problems…"

"Hey!" I threw one of Kyle's pillows at them. "I take offense." To Kyle, I said, "Go clean up. Be out in five or they are gone."

He shot up and disappeared into the bathroom without another protest. I sat on his bed.

"So what about you guys. Valentine's day. Any plans?"

They shared a look until Darcy spoke, "The band made plans with some girls last night at the after after party. There's a restaurant every couple had agreed to meet up at."

I groaned loudly. "So I won't be able to shoot _any _footage today?"

Uma shrugged. "Maybe-"

"No," I said quickly. "They'll be all '_we want our privacy blah bah ugh!'_" My journalism professor's words ran through my head, _Your fire…could really be something. Just don't scorch on sight._

"They are ridiculous," Darcy agreed with over enthusiasm.

"Absolutely appalling. The nerve of them," Uma said.

I nodded, "Exactly."

They looked at each other again and their sarcasm became clear.

"Okay, I have work to do. You two go back to being gay." I tossed another pillow over my shoulder.

"Ow!" It was Darcy. "Pemberly, maybe you should try acting 20 instead of 35? IT'S VALENTINE'S DAY DAMMIT!"

I slammed the door behind me. The blonde masseuses paused over their oil treatments. Probably not the type of behavior Hong Kong was used to. I bowed awkwardly, only to be nudge aside by Kyle's figure zipping past me and dropping his towel.

"Are you familiar with the happy ending?" He dropped his towel, revealing his naked form beneath.

The masseuses remained calmed.

Maybe this _was _what they were used to.

My phone buzzed, _We're getting breakfast and regrouping for tonight._

I gaped at the group text message and scanned the list of names on the chat.

Then again, I was used to a lot of things.

Being on One Direction's group chats was one thing (awesome, yes!).

I watched the names ping in.

_Elton John: _Who is this?

_Angeline Jolie: _Take me off this group chat.

_Selena Gomez: _I'm not in Hong Kong anymore, back in LA.

_Miley Cyrus: _Toke city , Can't. #sohigh

_Shakira: _What is happening?

_Niall Horne: _Shit. I accidently sent to entire contact list.

And my heart thudded the way it did every time his name filled my phone screen.

_Louis Tomlinson: _Can anybody else hear how loud Pemberly's heart is racing? You just sent her Elton John's phone number.

Pause, paus.

_Elton John: _Should this worry me?

_Harry Styles: _No. She's okay

My stomach did a flip as I type back, to only Louis.

_Me: _Elton John? Talk to me when you can send Phil Collins magic my way.

I switched back to the group chat.

A few other A-list names had chimed in. Then,

_Phil Collins: _Regroup? For?

Pause, pause.

Ping, ping!

From _Louis Tomlinson_

_J_ Did you hear that? Phil Collins is in the air

I laughed and wrote back, _Mild heart murmur. Send ambulance drones._

My cheeks were red when I looked up, even Kyle looked embarrassed for me.

"What?" I stowed my phone. "Um. Breakfast then?"

And a few minutes later, after a brief shower, I was making my way to the private breakfast bar where the boys were huddling onto their table, each equally hung over.

One, in particular, made my heart race. And it wasn't Phil freaking Collins.


	4. Chapter 3

"No camera today!" Zayne rounded the group into boisterous clapping. "Let's give it up for Pemberly."

My face immediately felt warmer, but it wasn't the attention. I was used to attention.

Louis was the only one keeping quiet. He was leaning against the bar. He had his head resting in his palm, fingers dispersed into his hair. His green eyes lazily followed me.

"Hey," he mouthed.

I winked and kept him in my line of vision as the rest of the group left the bar and gathered at the large round table that now had a group of waiters bring out breakfast.

Louis hung back. When the rest of the group was fully out of earshot, he turned his back to them so his face was to me.

"About - about last night," he shoved his hand in his pocket and with the other he rubbed his neck awkwardly.

I held my breath because at that moment he laughed nervously. The motion seemed to fan out his body's delicious scent. It took everything I had in me not to be pulled forward by it.

"I'm really sorry you walked in on that," he said soberly.

I nodded. "Me too."

"It seems like that's the only side you've seen of me." His eyebrows furrowed with worry, but even as his eyes filled with concern, his body shifted into modelesque confidence. "I mean, that first night on tour, later on the tour bus, a few times on-"

I put my hand up. "Yes, I remember. I have crap timing."

He went on, "My point is…I don't want that to be all you see. There's a lot more to me."

At this point, I had to pull myself away from these words, at least enough to remind myself that these words were for Pemberly "the girl directing their tour documentary" not Pemberly "the girl who fell in love with him the moment she saw him."

"I want to assure you," I said in my best imitation of my father, "my aim is not to embarrass you or anybody on the touring team. This project means something to me too."

"Right," he said. "But I'm saying it would be so easy to focus on-"

I touched his elbow lightly. "Mr. Tomlinson, I get your drift." And with that, I walked away, holding my fingertips and trying to quench their trembling.

I've dated gorgeous boys. How was this affecting me so much?

I joined the group and didn't look in Louis's direction as he joined us. I could feel his presence even as I joined Harry and Niall's conversation about tonight.

"No," I said. "I'm staying in. I have some editing to get done."

Harry sent a half-sexual look. Clearly he was trying to restrain himself, but it was clear he – more so than the other boys – forgot I was here on professional terms.

"Don't you want to let your hair down," he pressed.

Liam looked up from the paper. I eyed him suspiciously because it was in Mandarin and clearly he was holding it upside down.

"You know, yeah." Liam wagged his finger at me. "I don't think I've ever seen you with your hair down."

I shoved a forkful of pancakes into my mouth in lieu of a response.

Niall laughed. "I think that's film major talk for '_And you never will.'"_

I shot him a smile.

Louis cleared his throat. "Liam, since when do you read Mandarin?"

Liam tossed the paper aside and poured himself a cup of coffee. "There's a lot you don't know about me."

Harry let his head fall on the table dramatically and let out a string of deep snores. Louis took this opportunity to lean forward and shove a French fry up Harry's nose. Harry calmly pulled it out of his nose and bit the other end.

"Mmmm tastes like me." He tossed me another sultry look.

I grabbed the discarded newspaper and opened it loudly. Outside of the tour team, Darcy, Uma, and Liam's girlfriend Kate were the only other girl's on tour. This was clearly driving Harry crazy. Which startled me because he seemed to disappear with girls more than I thought was physically possible.

"Harry," I said from behind the newspaper. And I closed my eyes and strained to remember some of the few mandarin phrases I had picked up from my dad. I put the paper down and threw him a half-smile. . "令人讨厌的交易."

The group gawked.

"I don't know. It's something about an 'unsavory deal.'"

Louis let out a barking laugh. And I remembered.

The models were gorgeous. Some were near-perfect specimens.

But Louis Tomlinson sent a lightning bolt right through my spine.

This was the beautiful cheerful morning, the happy breakfast that prefaced the wrong moment. It felt inevitable that I would end up in the wrong room to find him attached at the hips to someone.

You would hear the screams around the campfire, the echo of my heart being torn from my chest and laid at his feet.

I ran my hand through my hair because this was the first time I actually felt this way. And good, bad, whatever…it was a fresh experience.

The group, with breakfast in their stomachs, slowly grew more loud and boisterous. I got up to go, to leave them to it, when Harry looked up.

"Are we too much for you?" he winked.

"Uh, no. I left Kyle alone with two masseurs and someone should really check to make sure he hasn't gotten us kicked out of China." I rolled my eyes. "Or worse, touched my footage."

Harry sent a suggestive look and bit his lips. "You can touch _my-_"

Louis clamped a hand over his mouth and did a half-wave. "Thanks for joining us, Pemberly."

Harry bit through and pulled away. "Footage."

I turned to go and brushed him off. "The moment is over, Styles. You lost that pun."

"Oh, I'd find your pun."

As I was leaving, the boys were hushing him mid laughter until one of them finally said.

"Bro, you need to get laid."

"You're worse than Louis."

I caught eyes with Louis as I was turning the corner. Maybe I imagined, but he had an apologetic look in his eyes. I quickly looked away and rounded the corner.

There it was. The soul-crushing heart tear.


	5. Chapter 4

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I took a long sip of my coffee and leaned back in my chair. Over my laptop screen, I saw Uma and Darcy step out in their outfits. Darcy dressed in heels and a long red dress. Uma grabbed onto her shoulder and hopped into a long stiletto. Her bronze skin a glow.

Kyle was on the couch, fumbling awkwardly with his tie.

"You're really going to stay here?" Darcy whined. "All bored and bored."

"And bored?" Uma added.

I shook my head. "I'm working on the story board."

Uma walked over and looked over my notes. "Pemberly, you can't plan out how a documentary will go."

I nodded, "Yes, but I haven't even gotten a focus. I don't want to just chronicle the concerts. I want to show their fans the boys that we hang out with every day. I want to…I don't know. Make extraordinary film."

Kyle let out a forceful sigh and tore off his tie. "Can one of you come over here and tie this?" He walked over to me and handed me the tie. "Look, Pem. It's One Direction. You can show 2 hours of them sitting on a couch staring at the camera blankly and there will be people that love it." He pointed at Darcy, "Once, she made me watch 2 hours of some 'tard literally just stuck between a rock and wall."

Darcy burned red. "It was an Oscar nominated film based on a true story!"

Kyle looked back at me. "And the damn thing was nominated for an Oscar. You can call anything art."

"But not all of it is _good_ art," I said.

After they had gone to meet up with everyone, someone knocked on the door. I saved my work and noticed Kyle's tie discarded by my notes. I grabbed it and shuffled to the door. Kyle was already halfway drunk before they'd even gotten out of the door.

"Forget something?" I swung open the door and held the tie out. "Oh, sorry. I thought it was Kyle."

Niall was at the door, dressed in a three piece suit. "No." He looked down at the bow tie hanging around his neck. "Though I might need to borrow that. I haven't quite figured out how to tie this bloody thing."

"Have at it," I said, handing him the tie. "Step into my office?" I motioned blithely to the table. "Something up?"

He looked up at my hair. I ran my hand through it and laughed.

"Yes, I actually am capable of letting it down. But Kyle says I look more sophisticated with it up. More grown up."

He followed me into the suite, "Why would you want to look more grown up?"

I shook my head. If they knew me before college, they would understand. I wasn't the most put together person on the planet.

"It just feels better up." I opened my calendar and frowned. "I don't have you jotted down for an interview."

"Uh no, I'm here on a personal mission," he stood, his fingers twisting awkwardly over the edges of the tie. He hadn't even started it right.

I strode over and pulled it gently off. I wrapped it around me and began slowly so he could see.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Well, everyone is off having a day of it, but my girlfriend is back home," he put his hands in his pocket and touched the edge of my notes curiously. "And you're here. So," he motioned at himself. "Why not have a nice night anyway. Just friends."

I thought this over. I'd known Niall enough to know what a sweet, respectful guy he was. Before I could give him the standard reply that usually got Uma and Darcy to back off, he tossed his bow tie on the table where it slumped in a little ball on my keyboard. He disappeared into the direction of my room.

"You must have some sort of dress," he stood at my doorway. "You mind?"

"Go ahead." I followed and watched him.

He grabbed my make-up bag and placed it on the bed. "Red lips."

I obliged, tossing out everything in my make-up bag and handing him the rest lip stick.

"Knock yourself out. I think you're more of a peach."

"No not for me. It's for you!"

"What?"

Trust me," he said. "You'll thank me."

I remembered a conversation from one of the first nights. Louis had said what he found irresistible was a girl with red lipstick.

I suddenly gathered Niall's innocent intention. He wanted Louis to notice me.

"So, what do you have planned? Are we going to run into Louis and whatever girl he's with at a restaurant? And what? He'll trip over himself for me?"

"Well, yeah, most guys would," Niall laughed and pulled a bottle of perfume from the dresser counter. He sprayed the air a few times. "But you know that." He grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. "Smell that?" He added a few more spritz around. "That is gonna make Louis go crazy. He's a sucker for a good perfume."

I frowned, knowing Niall wouldn't give up so easily. "I'll go, but not to make Louis jealous. That's not who I am." I reached into my pocket and pulled out a little slip. "I had actually planned a spa day for tonight. So thank you, Niall but-"

He pulled the slip from my hand. "This is for two."

"Yeah, Darcy got it for her and Uma but they got a massage in the morning."

He touched his face. "Yeah, I could do with a little down time." He pulled off the tie and tossed it on the bed. "Won't need that then."

"Okay, just let me finish some work-"

He grabbed me by the elbow and led my passed my laptop. He closed the lid as we strode passed it and I had to strangle back a sound of indignation.

"I'm not doing a mani pedi though," he said in the elevator. He punched in the floor where the spas were location and shrugged his shoulders in bravado. "Not unless I really need it."

I watched the doors close and had a weird feeling of déjà vu. Right as the doors were sliding shut, I caught sight of an arm wearing a tuxedo similar to Niall's. I shrugged off the feeling and looked over at him.

"Just wait til you get a facial," I said. "Your skin will literally glow."

**Louis POV**

In the elevator, I paced. It was a quite cramped space in which to pace but I wasn't so sure what to say when I saw Pemberly. She had walked on in me with three girls already and I had to make it right.

The doors opened and I walked out. I reached down and pulled my phone out of my pocket. I had a text from Kyle asking if I had gotten his tie yet. I replied that I had just made it to their floor. His next response was a drunken attempt at describing where he'd left the tie. I think.

Kyle: _Couch or in on the thing where Pemberly _

I shoved the phone back into my front pocket and pulled out the key. I had it in the key card slot and the little lights blinked green. I pulled back and gave three sharp knocks. Nothing. I knocked a few more times and used the key again.

The door clicked open and I stuffed my head in. The suite looked empty but some lights were on in the rooms. Pemberly's stuff was on the table but her laptop was closed.

I cleared my throat loudly. "Hello? Pemberly? Um…" I ran my hands nervously through my hair and walked around cautiously. "Kyle left his tie and I offered to grab it so…are you-" an image of her possibly in the shower flickered in my mind, "Are you here?"

It was completely quiet. Weird. Kyle had told me she wasn't going with them. Everyone was waiting in the lobby for me. I hurried, looking around the couch for his tie but nothing.

_Fuck, maybe I should just give him my tie, _ I thought, just as I spotted Pemberly's neat scrawls. I picked up a sheet. It all looked like gibberish but her handwriting was surprisingly sharp, not the flowing, sweet scrawls I expected. A soft wave of sweet air touched my tongue and I looked over to the direction of the doorway.

I walked over, my chest suddenly thudding with anticipation. Another image of Pemberly flickered in my mind and I had to pull myself together before reaching the door.

Kyle's tie was on the bed. My eyes shifted through the glittering mess on the bed. That image and the heavy scent of perfume in the air made it clear, she had gotten ready to go out. I grabbed the tie, confused because she hadn't said anything to anyone and there was no way she could know anyone in Hong Kong.

I smiled because maybe she did. She was full of surprises.

I left the room, turning the light off as I went and texted Kyle that I had found his tie. Just as it sent, I pulled up Pemberly's name on my contacts list.

Me: _So, you're too cool to party with us?_ My finger hovered over the send button.

I erased the entire thing and left the room. Out in the hall once more, I shook my head. How did it still smell like her? I held up the tie where the scent still clung and inhaled a cloud of sweet smell. My suit was tight enough as it was.

What was happening to me? I lowered the tie and punched in the little symbol that represented the lobby, grateful to be in a cold environment.

**Pemberly POV**

After the spa, Niall walked me back to my suite. We were both too relaxed so speak, so at the door, he waved and left.

Everyone was still out. I went straight to my work and noticed my laptop was slightly open, a piece of fabric visible in the hollow. I pulled out Niall's bow tie and made a mental note to give it back to him tomorrow.

I put my work away, knowing tomorrow we would be in a hurry to shove off to the next tour date. I paused in the doorway.

I don't remember turning my light off.


	6. Chapter 5

**By the way, that campfire story was a plot line from "Angel." If you watch it, then remember Lindsay? It's season 5, episode 17.**

**If anyone is actually reading this, make sure to leave a review, or follow. I work very hard on these chapters. Well, like I turn on my computer and I mess with fonts. Sometimes I have to spell check. It's exhausting. **

**So follow, fave, review...and I will give you little cameos.**

The morning came with a flurry of wake up calls hours. The buses to take us to the airport would be here soon. Uma and Darcy lay in a sleepy heap on the couch, their suitcases ready.

Kyle was still asleep. His red tie was scrunched up near his suit. So it was him that had been in my room last night.

"I don't know how you managed to stumble back up here last night," I said, mostly to myself as he was planted face down into his pillow. "You drunk is like watching a zombie stumble through a ball pit."

He choked out a laugh and rolled over.

"Kyle!" I covered my eyes. "How do Uma and Darcy let you sleep naked?"

He pulled the covers over himself. "They don't notice." He didn't apologize. "And it wasn't me that came up. I couldn't have managed."

"Well, either way," I pointed at the wall clock. "Tick tock, buses are almost here."

"Is the shower free?"

I nodded. He leapt up and disappeared into the bathroom. When I heard the shower running, I made my way back into my own suite to double check that I hadn't left anything. I had Niall's bow tie in my pocket.

When Kyle finished, we all descended in the elevator to meet up with everyone in the lobby. Zayne and Niall were sitting by the large lobby fountain, avoiding notice beneath dark glasses and baseball caps. Liam was hidden behind a newspaper.

Niall jogged over. Uma, Darcy, and Kyle walked away to give us space.

"Hey, you were right. My skin is glowing."

I flashed him a smile. "And you were almost _not _going to go with the algae wrap?"

"I feel like an idiot."

"I almost forgot," I pulled out his bow tie and placed it in his palm. "Maybe you should stick to regular ties."

He chuckled, "Noted."

"Hey guys," Louis said. He and Harry were just arriving from the elevators. Louis' eyes locked on the bow tie. "Good…morning."

Harry blurted, "Did you guys have sex?"

Niall stepped back, shoving the bow tie in his pocket. "I have a girlfriend, you ponce." He walked away, shoulders squared.

Harry eyed him suspiciously. "Your skin is glowing. His skin is glowing. Bow tie." He sent me a wicked smile, "I won't tell."

I put my hands up, acutely aware of how still Louis had gone. I couldn't meet his gaze. I couldn't even talk. Taking a page from Niall's book, I walked away and rejoined my film crew.

Sure that it would blow over, I made sure not to add fuel to the fire by reacting. This may have been a mistake. On the plane, Harry made sure to sidle up beside me until Kyle noticed my discomfort and kicked him to the back with Louis and Zayne.

"Something up?" Kyle whispered.

I shook my head.

"Well, don't worry. That Harry kid has been pissing off everyone. Louis kept looking over here in annoyance."

I peeked over his shoulder through the crack between the seats. Louis was in the back. He was glaring at Niall, who was innocently huddled into his phone beneath a blanket. Then Louis eyes shot over to where I was sitting. He must not have seen me because his expression didn't change but he looked like he was deep in thought.

I had watched enough silent films to know that something interesting was happening, but not enough to know exactly what.

"So Germany," Kyle said. "Think they'll hand us some loggers when we get off the plane?" He pulled out his camera and fiddled with the lenses. He switched out the fish eye lenses and replaced it with an old blue filter.

"Is that the old mighty blue?" I laughed holding up the camera to my eye. It brought back memories of toothless years and Kyle's very first documentary. He was the one that had introduced the magic of film to Darcy and me.

"The very same," he said, shoving his eye into the camera slot. "Pose. Pose. Pose."

I obliged, leaning into the window dramatically. In the seats in front of us, Darcy and Uma knelt in their seats to look over at us.

"The old mighty blue," Darcy let out a war cry, ignoring the jolt of alarm she had sent through the plane. Apart from the band, their manager, tour manager, a few personal assistants, and us, the only other guy on the plane was fast asleep.

I pushed aside thoughts of Louis, the bow tie, and Harry aside. If anyone could make me feel better, it was my best friends.

I looked down at my phone to a text from Louis, _Hey, Pemberly_

I looked over my seat and waved in response. He frowned and went back to his phone.

Ping, ping. _I need to ask you something._

I replied, _Yeah?_

His next response took a little longer, _I'm asking as Niall's friend here. Because I don't want him to do something stupid. Last night…did you guys…_

My eyes widened. What? I shot him a glare and watched his fingers flash over his phone.

_Not that sleeping with you would be stupid._

I put my phone aside and constituted to ignore him. Fortunately, I was too angry at him to have my feelings hurt. This was for Niall's sake. Niall really was one of those guys you could trust fully. How could he think Niall would cheat on his girlfriend?

"Hey," Darcy leaned over the side of her seat and whispered so only the four of us where in ear shot. "So what happened between you and Niall?"

Even my friends thought something was up?

Kyle was switching his lenses again. "Yeah, last night he told Darcy he was trying to get you out to relax."

I sighed, they knew it had been innocent.

"I used your spa passes, Darcy."

She nodded. "I'm glad you got out, Pems. We're happy for you."

I looked around at them and smiled. "Yeah, I just needed a _me_ day. I think Niall did too."

Uma looked over at him, "He's as attached to his phone as you are to your laptop. Just don't marry your work."

I laughed, "Not a chance. Did you guys have fun?"

"Mostly," Uma said. "We ended up at this noodle place and fans spotted the guys so we had to bounce."

"Yeah," Darcy said. "Who knew Liam could run that fast?"

Uma put her arm around her girlfriend. "Aw, has someone got a crush?"

Darcy laughed. "Maybe a bit." She leaned her head against Uma's shoulder. "But I like you the most."

Uma kissed her forehead.

Kyle snapped a picture of them. "So what do you think awaits us in Germany?"

Darcy laughed. "If it's anything like the rest of this tour, it'll be chaos."

I leaned back in my seat and turned to Kyle. "What do you say the four of us go off on our own?"

"What about filming?" he asked.

I looked down at my phone and eyed the little message alert from Louis.

"I could use with a little fun," I said. "We can meet up with the band after their show." That would give us the day in Germany after we landed tonight and rested for tomorrow.

I stowed my phone away without looking at it and leaned my seat back. I was still refreshed from the night of pampering.

I opened my phone and read my text. It was from Harry, _Spa day? Hell, you should have told me, I could have given you a facial._

I balked and looked over at Harry who then made a sexual jerk with his hip bones and pretended to wipe his face.

Louis and Zayne saw him. Zayne jabbed him in the side, mouthing _Knock it off._

Ping, ping! Louis, _Spa day? Maybe we should talk when we land_

Ping, ping! Louis, _It was killer thinking about you two together._

My jaw dropped, I looked over at him. His eyes were warm with desire. He shot me a soft smile, and my stomach dropped.

I didn't reply. I wanted him but not like this, not because he felt a twinge of jealousy.

I touched my temples, pushing back the sharp flashes of the last few times I tried to talk to him about this, how I went to him with an airy, butterfly heart and witnessed as he disappeared into a girl and then another and-

I am not one of those girls. Did he know that?


End file.
